Manila--The Philippine
National Police (PNP)
on Sunday lauded the administration's war on drugs campaign after receiving a
high rating of public satisfaction on the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS)
survey.
The
survey polled on the last quarter of December 2018 showed 66 percent of the
majority of Filipinos believe that the number of drug users in their
communities decreased.
"The
high rating obtained proves that the continuing anti-illegal drugs campaign of
the government is effective in convincing drug dependents to refrain from
further using illegal drugs, and instrumental in reducing the total number of
crimes nationwide thereby, creating a secure environment where people feel safe
to live, work and do business," PNP Spokesperson Senior Supt. Bernard
Banac quoted in a statement.
Furthermore,
the survey result also found out that 95 percent or almost all the respondents
believed that it was substantial for drug suspects to be captured alive.
"The
PNP assures the public that we will continue to perform our mandate within the
bounds of the law and with utmost respect for human rights." Banac said.
Meanwhile,
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo was also glad on the results of the
December survey.
Salvador
said the results were a confirmation of the success of the campaign despite
some criticisms.
He
also urged government critics and opposers to “stop playing blind dumb” and
learn the fact that many Filipinos believe that there are fewer drug users now.
“They
remain skeptical, unimpressed and indifferent of the significant strides made
by our authorities in relation to prohibited narcotics even pointing out there
remains demand and supply on illegal drugs. We ask them to stop playing blind
dumb and instead listen to the people,” Panelo said.
Widespread
criticism has been drawn during the succeeding action of the government on the
war against drugs where there were alleged state-sponsored killings, which the
government denied.
Despite
that, public's favor still ran high in the latest survey results where it was
mostly "similar" in June 2018 rating satisfaction in accordance to
SWS.
In a
released statement of SWS, as of 1,200 adults polled in late June, 78 percent
said they were satisfied with the campaign, 13 percent said otherwise and 19
were undecided.
Following
the administration’s campaign against illegal drugs, public satisfaction was at
an excellent +76 when it was first surveyed in September 2016. It was highest
in December 2017 at an excellent +77, said SWS.
In a
data showed by the ABS-CBN Investigative & Research Group, there were at
least 5,317 alleged drug suspects have been killed from the time the
administration's anti-illegal drugs campaign began on July 1, 2016 until
December 18, 2018.
During
operations conducted by law enforcement agencies including PNP and Philippine
Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), the data showed that six out of every 10
victims were killed in the operations.
